


Warmth

by AutisticWriter



Series: Cuddles [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Broken Bones, Bruises, Concussions, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fear, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Aid, Gen, Huddling For Warmth, Hugs, Hypothermia, Injury, One Shot, Prompt Fill, Survival, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-12-25 16:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: Stranded on an alien planet after a crash, Pidge and Hunk struggle to survive.Cuddle number 6: For warmth





	Warmth

_“We’re out of control!”_

_“I know, but it’s not responding!”_

_“We’re gonna crash!”_

_“Hunk, do something!”_

_“I can’t!”_

\---

Pidge awakes with a jolt, her muscles stiff and her fingers numb with cold. Hunk is sat up beside her, his knees tucked up to his chest.

“Morning,” he says, but neither of them actually know the time. In fact, it’s only just starting to get dark outside.

Pidge shuffles into an awkward sitting position, her sore arm protesting every movement. She winces, pain flaring up her arm as her heart still races from her dreams. Trust her brain to make her dream about the crash; not only is it all she can think about when she’s awake, but she even thinks about it when asleep.

“You all right?” Hunk says.

Pidge grimaces. “Yeah, suppose so. I think it’s a bit better.”

She’s lying. If anything, her injury is getting worse. When she came round after the crash, she found her arm broken, her hand pointing in the wrong direction. Despite Hunk’s attempt at first aid, her swollen, fractured arm seems to be getting more painful by the minute. But she doesn’t tell him any of this, not wanting Hunk to worry any more than he already is.

Hunk doesn’t look like he believes her, his bruised face frowning before he forces himself to smile. “That’s good, I guess. Do you want some food?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Pidge says. Of course, she’s starving hungry, but they need to save their rations. After all, who knows how long they are going to be stuck here before they get rescued.

\---

_The shuttle spiralled down, down, down, careering towards the ground at a terrifying speed. Pidge tapped frantically at the control panel, wondering if pressing any of these buttons might solve the problem. Beside her, Hunk was yanking the controls so hard he looked like he was trying to break them, but there was no response. Despite both of their frantic efforts, they couldn’t change course. Nothing was working properly. They were going to crash._

_They picked up speed, burning through the planet’s atmosphere so fast everything felt blurry and Pidge nearly passed out. Pidge groaned, the G-force pinning her to her seat. Hunk’s hands slipped from the controls, and the outside world started spinning even faster._

_Pidge heard Hunk throw up, and she felt sick. She never got sick when travelling – but this wasn’t normal space travel. This was an ever nearing crash. This was them spiralling out of control as the engines failed and the controls froze and everything went wrong._

_And the ground was rushing towards them – no, they were rushing towards the ground – and Pidge and Hunk screamed and screamed…_

_And then there was a huge crashing thud and Pidge’s head smacked against her chair and everything went black._

\---

They’ve run out of water. They only had meagre supplies to begin with – the bottles Hunk found in the emergency rations pack – but they only lasted a day. At least, Pidge thinks it has been a day. This planet might have longer days than Earth. Or she might have just totally lost track of time.

Just how long have they been here? When are the others going to find them? And how much longer can they last without water?

\---

_Pain. That was all Pidge could think about when she drifted back into consciousness. Pain in her head. Pain in her arm. Pain everywhere. The air reeked of smoke and her mouth had the metallic taste of blood._

_Her mind felt blurry and she could barely think. What had happened? Where was she? Why was she in pain?_

_“Pidge?”_

_Something tapped her face. She tried to flinch away, but she could barely move. And moving would surely make the pain worse._

_“Pidge? Are you…? Pidge!”_

_It was Hunk. Pidge recognised his voice. And as she heard the fear and pain in her friend’s voice, Pidge remembered everything that had happened. They crashed on the planet they were meant to go and collect something important from (well, she remembered almost everything), the force of the impact knocking her unconscious._

_“Pidge! Please wake up…”_

_She forced her eyes open, and found herself staring into the teary eyes of Hunk. A gash oozed blood across his forehead, and bloody saliva dribbled out of his mouth whenever he spoke._

_“Thank God!” Hunk cried, and tears streamed down his bloody face. “You wouldn’t wake up. I thought you might…”_

_Hunk went to hug her, but froze in place. “Sorry, I forgot. Your arm.”_

_Confused, Pidge looked down, and realised that her arm was broken. So that was why her arm hurt. Something must have snapped inside her forearm, because her hand was twisted ninety degrees in th wrong direction, her skin straining over the protruding bone. The sight probably would have made Pidge feel sick, had she already not felt horribly nauseous._

_“We need to move,” Hunk said, his voice still trembling. “We’re not safe here. I think the engine might blow up any minute. I’ve found a cave we can stay in. are you up to moving? Sorry, I’m babbling…”_

_Pidge raised her good arm and grasped Hunk’s blood stained hand. When she opened her mouth to speak, blood spilled out of her mouth (it oozed from a cut in her lip; she must have bitten it when she banged her head) and her words came out mumbled and thick._

_“I think I can move,” she said, and Hunk’s relieved smile made her want to cry._

\---

It’s the middle of the night. Outside their cave, the sky is clear, showing two moons and beautiful constellations, but Pidge and Hunk don’t care. They’re too tired to move, and the clear sky only means it’s colder than ever. At least the last few nights were cloudy. But now the sky is clear and it’s so cold and they can barely move their limbs, let alone go outside and look at the sky.

Shivering violently, Pidge’s teeth chatter together as her whole body jolts with shivers, making her broken arm hurt even more. Hunk is shivering too, his body trembling in the light of the single torch.

“I’m so c-cold,” Pidge groans, rubbing the back of her head with a freezing hand. Her head is bruised, and it hurts to even lean it against the cave wall.

“Me too,” Hunk says, the dry blood on his face looking fresh in the near darkness. “Wanna hug? Might keep us warmer?”

Pidge shrugs her good shoulder and shuffles closer to Hunk. They huddle together, cuddling against each other’s freezing bodies as they shiver and try to conserve body heat. Pidge leans her head against Hunk’s shoulder, wishing they could get out of this horrible situation.

“You’re freezing,” Hunk says.

“So’re you,” Pidge mutters.

“No, I mean, really freezing,” he says, and Pidge hears concern in his voice.

Hunk stops hugging her and sits up, shuffling over to their meagre supplies and the torch. Hunk digs into the emergency kit and pulls out a tiny package. Pidge watches him unwrap it, amused to see it turn into a large blanket made of some kind of metal foil.

“Here, take this,” he says, holding out the blanket. “It’s the survival blanket. It’ll help keep you warm.”

“But… but you’re cold too,” Pidge says, but Hunk wraps the blanket around her shoulders (being careful of her sore arm). It crinkles in an annoying way, but Pidge feels a bit warmer.

“Yeah, but you’re smaller than me,” Hunk says, tucking the blanket around her. “And you’re injured. You need it more than me.”

Pidge wants to protest, to tell Hunk he needs to stay warm too, but she’s so tired, and so cold… and despite the pain and fear and cold, Pidge drifts into a restless sleep.

\---

Pidge wakes up in the middle of the night. Its pitch black except for a glimmer of moonlight at the tunnel entrance. She’s so cold and groggy and her sore arm makes her want to cry, and she wants to curl up and go back to sleep but she can’t because she feels so… so awful.

Her hypothermia is getting worse. She has never felt so cold before in her life. Her fingers are numb and she can’t feel her feet inside her shoes. And she has the blanket. So Hunk must be…

“Hunk?” she whispers, and her voice is slurred. Her head feels all fuzzy, but it’s not just the concussion.

Pidge fumbles for the torch, needing light, but her hand is numb and her fingers scrape the cold, rough ground. She’s frozen through, but the shivering seems to have stopped. Is that a good thing? Or is it really bad?

“Hunk?” she says again, a bit louder this time. She locates the torch and manages to switch it on, and the bright beam of light hurts her eyes. Pidge shines the light on Hunk, and finds her friend looking so weak and ill as he sleeps beside her. He isn’t shivering either.

“Hunk!”

She shakes his shoulder.

“Hunk! Wake up!”

His eyes open a fraction, but he seems to look straight through her.

Pidge touches his arm, and he feels even colder than she is. Her mind is groggy with cold and concussion and fatigue, but Pidge tries to remember any kind of first aid that might help. And she can only really remember one thing: don’t let someone with severe hypothermia fall asleep.

“You can’t go back to sleep, Hunk,” she says, hoping her slurry voice makes sense.

Hunk yawns, his head flopping against the ground.

“Please, Hunk, wake up!” Pidge says, shaking his arm again. “You can’t fall asleep again.”

And she doesn’t say it, but the thought echoes around her head. _Because I don’t know if you’ll wake up again._

Her eyes sting with unshod tears, and Pidge wraps the foil blanket around them both, and then wraps her good arm around Hunk and clings to him, trying to give her freezing friend what little body heat she has left. He’s so cold, even colder than her.

“Please stay awake, Hunk,” she whispers, and she says it again and again, hugging Hunk as she tries to keep him awake. _And alive_ , she thinks.

\---

She doesn’t know how long she sits there, tapping Hunk’s face to keep him awake, getting colder and number and groggier by the minute. All she knows is that she is frozen and everything hurts and Hunk is so ill and time seems to stretch into an insignificant nothingness.

And it could be days later or merely hours, but none of that matters, because all that’s important is that she suddenly hears crafts landing outside and then there are footsteps and then Shiro and Coran and Allura and Lance race into their cave and crowd around then and Pidge realises that they’ve come to rescue them.

Pidge ends up in Shiro’s Lion, whilst Hunk gets taken by Lance. Allura and Shiro carry her into the Lion, and Allura wraps her tightly in more of that foil stuff as Shiro steers them back to the Castle. She’s shivering again, and she knows that’s a good sign.

Pidge rests her head against Allura’s shoulder and Allura hugs her tightly, being mindful of her broken arm. Pidge sighs shakily, feeling so safe and warm in her friend’s arms. But she can’t stop thinking about Hunk.

“What… ‘bout H-Hunk?” she mumbles, her eyes filling with tears. She screws them up tightly so Allura doesn’t notice.

“He’ll be all right, Pidge,” Shiro says, his voice firm and reassuring.

“Coran and Lance are taking good care of him,” Allura adds, patting Pidge’s back. “He’ll be better soon, you both will. We promise.”

“He’s… he’s worse th-than me,” Pidge says, her voice trembling.

“I know, Pidge, but we can help Hunk recover,” Allura says.

They don’t understand. Pidge needs to tell them why. They need to know why Hunk is nearly dead while she’s just like this.

“He… he gave m-me the… the foil b-blanket,” she says, and hot tears dribble down her face.

“Are you crying?” Allura asks, and she sounds worried. “Pidge, what do you mean?”

“I think she means Hunk gave her the emergency blanket to keep Pidge warm even though it made him drastically worse,” Shiro says.

Pidge nods and it makes her headache so much worse.

“He… he… saved me…” she sobs, not trying to hide her tears anymore.

“And we’ll save him, Pidge,” Shiro says as Allura gives her something to wipe her eyes. “After all he’s done for you, we’re not going to let him slip away this easily.”

And Pidge tries to smile, so relieved that she has such wonderful caring friends, but instead just dissolves into hacking sobs, crying in Allura’s arms on the floor of the Black Lion.

\---

When Hunk is officially better (at least, that’s what Coran called it), the first thing he does when he sees Pidge is pull her into a hug.

“Thank you, Pidge,” he says, and she knows he’s crying again.

“I should be thanking you,” Pidge says, her eyes filling with tears.

“You saved me,” they both say at once, and they look at each other.

And, deciding that bickering about who saved who isn’t important, Pidge simply hugs her friend tightly as tears run down her face.


End file.
